December Sweetness

As December winds to a close, I am thanking God for the sweetness that the month brought.

One of our weekly date date nights.

We hosted my side of the family.

The boys took me to my favorite restaurant for my birthday lunch.

Then, when Sarah and Billy got in the next day, we went out to dinner.

My favorite.

We took one million pictures in front of the town Christmas tree...they weren't all winners!

Our annual...and legendary...gingerbread house competition!  Notice Bryan with a power drill!

Jack did a snowglobe!  His was my favorite!

 Mine...the winner!

Billy's

Bryan's...my second favorite!

The manger in the back.

Sarah's

We had an early Christmas before Sarah and Billy went to Missouri to spend Christmas with his family.  We had a very unconventional dinner consisting of multiple kinds of hot dogs and bratwurst, the best homemade mac and cheese, and mimosas!  Because who doesn't drink mimosas with their hot dogs?!  It was so yummy!

Then, salted caramel chocolate tart to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Finally, to wrap up the month, Bryan took Jackson to his first concert on Saturday!  They went to see Creed and had a blast!  Then, they stopped off at Waffle House at midnight for dinner!  

So grateful for these precious people of mine, and even more grateful for our precious Savior, whom we praise and celebrate every day, not just December 25th.

Jack's Birthday!

We started celebrating Jack's birthday two weekends ago!  One of our birthday traditions, is that you get to pick out what restaurant you want to go to...and Jack picked a fancy seafood restaurant!  He loves fancy, and he loves seafood!

 

We started with fancy drinks.

Then, for an appetizer, we ordered caviar.  Jack has always wanted to try it.  And while it was definitely a one time indulgence, it was so yummy, and it made Jack feel so fancy and special!

For the main course, he ordered crab stuffed lobster tails.

And finally, for dessert, he picked baked Alaska.

He loved all of it!  And for a 15 year old who wanted to wear a tuxedo--complete with a top hat and monocle--on the airplane when he was a kid, there was not a better birthday restaurant!  We loved treating him and watching him smile from ear to ear the whole night!

Then, on his actual birthday, we made the homemade meal he requested--pork schnitzel, bratwurst, fries, and homemade lemonade.

And for dessert, nutella strudel.

Then, to cap everything off, Bryan took him to see a racing movie and eat at Dave's Hot Chicken--J's favorite!--this weekend.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Jack!  We still can't believe he's 15!

Happy 22nd Birthday, Sarah!

22 years ago today, God blessed us with our baby girl.  It has been one of the greatest joys of our lives watching her grow into the beautiful and amazing woman she is.

And even though she's 22 today, she will always be our baby.

 

Bryan's Birthday

Last Wednesday, we celebrated Bryan's 40th birthday!

He has said for the past few years, that he wanted the theme for his 40th birthday to be Mike Gundy's famous rant, "I'm a man!  I'm 40!" so that's what we did!

One of our traditions is that you get to pick what restaurant you want to go to, and this year, Bryan chose one of our favorite burger places!

Once we got home, we lit the candles for his birthday bread pudding.

Because there were 40 candles, it was more than a one man job!

One of our other traditions is a homemade meal, and this year, Bryan picked pork ragu and bruschetta.  Bryan and I made it together, and it was delicious!

It was so fun celebrating Bryan!  He's the absolute best, and we hope he had the best 40th birthday!

Happy 40th Bryan!

Today, this cute boy turned 40!

"I'm a man!  I'm 40!"

--Mike Gundy

--Bryan Crowder

Happy 40th Birthday to the absolute greatest guy we know!  We love you, and we are so grateful God made you!

 

Sarah's Birthday

Last Friday, we headed down to Austin to celebrate our baby turning 21!

Friday night, after a delicious dinner of shrimp nachos, we lit 21 candles for Sarah's birthday desserts, (not pictured, a tiramisu)!

Leading up top our trip, one of the meals Sarah requested, was a charcuterie night.  When our baby wants charcuterie, our baby gets charcuterie!

We filled up the letters of her name with all of her favorite foods--including 3 of the 5 letters being just desserts!

It was so fun to put together, and it was so yummy!  But most importantly, Sarah loved it and kept saying she was blown away!

Papa Bear and Jack did kayaks one afternoon and had a blast!

It was so fun watching them!

J has kayaked at camp several times, so he was a pro!

When they were on their way back to the dock, they decided to race back in.  Bryan let Jack have a head start, but it didn't matter, he still beat J!

Billy came with us again this year!  We just love him!

Diamond was in heaven having her 2 favorite people with her!

The boys played a few rounds of pool throughout the weekend!

We had such a wonderful weekend spending time together celebrating Sarah!  We spent hours on the back porch talking and laughing, played a ton of board games, and ate way too much chocolate cake!  It was the best!

We love our 21 year old so much!